Why I don't enjoy modern music as much as 70's music: no brass, no wind, no strings.

[closeupready]

Listen to the older popular music from the 70's, and you'll hear oboes, violins, trumpets, harpsichords - Katy Perry features Auto-Tune, but what else? Yawn. (Just in case, I suppose. ) Oh, wait! Breast implants and bottle blonde hair. Cue the Connie Stevens tune here. LOL

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. interesting point

I love music: I would sooner go blind then deaf. But I find that (most) everything that I listen to came out before the 1980's (and for perspective I just turned 40). The thing is, everything sounds the same now. I don't think that I'm some 'old fogey' type, but really I can't tell if something on the radio came out yesterday or 20 years ago. Its kind of like the music industry has run out of ideas, (as has the movie industry).

[closeupready]

2. IMO, the problem is that corporate bean-counters insist on safety,

meaning what worked before should work again, and eliminate all things extraneous. Leaving an artistic 'product' that is sanitized and soulless. (And FWIW, I'm older than you, lol.)

[Joe Shlabotnik]

3. Well put. Whole lotta re-cycling goin' on. n/t

[Frank Cannon]

4. A lot of it has to do with return on investment.

It costs some serious coin and time to work with all of those union session musicians, when you can just bring in some no-talent fashion model and use the magic of autotune and Pro Tools to fill in all the rest. Then you can just sit back and watch the money roll in. Think of it as the George Lucas model of art for profit.

On the Electric Light Orchestra's "El Dorado" album (1974), you can hear the musicians putting their instruments away right in the middle of the climactic last overture, because they were off the clock and the orchestra refused to work overtime. Jeff Lynne said one of his biggest frustrations with ELO was working with all of those orchestra people.

[closeupready]

5. Funny - ELO is an old favorite of mine, too.

And some good points you make here.

[HopeHoops]

6. Even Genesis and King Crimson used flutes.

But in general, yes, the lack of such instruments does make the newer music inferior. One major exception is Bond. Synthesized instruments just aren't the same, if for no other reason than they don't have imperfections. That's what makes live music special.

My middle daughter, 18, only listens to "classic" rock and she knows the songs better than I do. I'll forget the artist and all I have to do is ask her. She always knows. The new stuff is "techno crap" to her. I refer to it as "bubblegum pop".

[redqueen]

7. Its there,

Just doesn't get on the radio. Try some Beirut.

[closeupready]

9. Is that a style of music, like salsa or raga?

Such an old man now, Beirut means 'civil war' to me, lol.

I will say that I do like various channels on di.fm - most of it is techno stuff, but it's well-done and with nice rhythm.

[redqueen]

13. It's a band...

I don't know what genre they are, but they have some lovely songs.

[closeupready]

15. That's lovely, sounds like Joy Division/New Order, a bit.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

33. You must be cool if you're familiar with

Joy Division.

[Major Nikon]

8. I spent New Years Eve in front of live big band music

I love live music of many different genres, but there's nothing like live big band music.

[closeupready]

10. Oh, yeah - as a teenager, I even played in the school band.

I still remember how exciting that was.

[Old and In the Way]

49. The only really insanely great Big Band I remember from the 70's

was the David Bromberg Band. Saw them play 7-8 times over 20 years....just a fun band to see in action. The Blues Brothers, too...but they weren't really a touring band. Today, I'd like to see Harry Connick Jr's Big Band or Wynton Marsallis
Not many Youtube clips of Dave's band from the 70's, but here's a good one...Dying Crapshooter's Blues

&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL5A701FFB5900D7ED

On edit: Here's Dave's Big Band in 2011....pretty awesome recording, Dave knows how to play 'em. "A Girl for Every Day of the Week".

[Generic Brad]

11. You missed one on your list

You forgot "No Talent".

This country sorely lacks music education and it is reflected in the music.

[TexasTowelie]

28. Dang, you beat me to it.

I'd love to see more groups that play actual instruments. I guess why "Forever Autumn" by Justin Hayward from the European War of the World tour gets my attention since there is mandolin and marimba (even if there are also synthesizers).

[Wait Wut]

12. Funny thing is...

...that's one of the reasons I like metal. They'll use "orchestrated" music more than any other type of "popular" music. The large majority of metalheads I know absolutely love classical music. And, not just Bach, Mozart, etc. They get pretty obscure with their tastes in classical. Popular opinion among the MHs is...Mozart would've been a headbanger.

[kentauros]

25. I take it you've heard of these guys then:

Diablo Swing Orchestra - Ballrog Boogie

[Wait Wut]

36. No!!

Last edited Mon Jan 2, 2012, 02:47 PM - Edit history (1)

OMG I love that!! Gotta go internet hopping, now!

Thanks!!!!

Edit: Don't know how you feel about punk, but Gogol Bordello is awesome! Who doesn't love an accordian!!

[kentauros]

38. That was great!

I do like punk, or some of it anyway, but they look like they'd be a fun show to see

I think I first heard about Diablo Swing Orchestra on a music/radio site called jamendo

[Wait Wut]

43. I was introduced to Gogol Bordello...

...through a Conservative Independent friend of mine.

Considering they're an anarchist/activist band that has played Occupy shows...it cracked me up! Great band, though! And, yeah, probably a great show. But, I'm too old and would probably have a heart attack. I'll stick to iTunes and YouTube.

[kentauros]

44. Hey, if Keith Richards can survive everything HE's been through,

you should be able to survive a measly gypsy punk band show

Or go see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

[Wait Wut]

50. Keith has drugs to keep him going.

Plus, he gets paid a lot of money to make an ass of himself!

Nick Cave is a little dark for my tastes, but still intriguing. I watched a few more YT vids and he's definitely got talent. Just not my style. He's got sort of a Jim Morrison thing going in some songs.

[fishwax]

14. I find 70s orchestration a pretty mixed bag

Sometimes good, other times sappy, overwrought, uninspired or otherwise unproductive.

There is some music nowadays that uses such instrumentation, but (as with a lot of today's great music) it doesn't often find its way to mainstream radio.

[Tikki]

16. The '70's started off mighty fine....

MASTERPIECE...





Tikki

[MgtPA]

35. Wow! Thanks for posting this!

[kwassa]

17. What do brass, wind and strings have to do with rock 'n roll?

Saxophones, maybe. Rock is about guitars.

Putting orchestration behind pop is simply imitating classical music very badly, speaking as someone how loves rock and classical.

[closeupready]

19. Certainly, if rock 'n roll spans the complete range of what you consider 'modern music',

then you have a valid point.

Popular music, however, and other types of modern music, have nothing to do with rock 'n roll.

I'm just thinking, to be more specific, about - for example - Elton John or The Beatles or, to go a little further back, Billie Holiday who, in 1930, sang lightly about prostitution to the accompaniment of a piano:

[kwassa]

47. I always have a valid point.

Because I am always correct!

Life is so easy because of this.

Rock 'n roll is popular music, nothing more, nothing less. Elton, the Beatles, Billie Holiday (how did you put these three together???!!!???)

I like stripped-down rock. No pretenses. That eliminates 90% of what is called rock.

I also love Billie Holiday. Love for Sale was a jazz standard of the time, many singers sang it, it is not her signature song at all.

[closeupready]

48. Oh, I did not know it was a common song of the time.

I learned something from you - thanks!! Her recording is the only one of that song I've ever heard (to my knowledge). I love just about everything she ever recorded. Except her later stuff, when her voice was in decline (for sort of the same reasons Whitney Houston's talent is cashed).

I put them together I guess because ... well, never mind. Because I'm an airhead, lol.

[kwassa]

51. Here is the background on the song

from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_for_Sale_(song)

""Love for Sale" is a song by Cole Porter, from the musical The New Yorkers which opened on Broadway on December 8, 1930 and closed in May 1931 after 168 performances. The song is written from the viewpoint of a prostitute advertising various kinds of "love for sale": "Old love, new love, every love but true love".

Despite the fact the song was banned from radio airplay, or perhaps because of it, it became a hit, with Libby Holman's version going to #5 and the "Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians" version going to #14, both in 1931. (All other 1931 recordings of the song were as an instrumental.)

Notable recordings since include Hal Kemp in 1939, Billie Holiday in 1945, Eartha Kitt in the 1950s, Ella Fitzgerald in 1956, and again in 1972 on her Ella Loves Cole album, Tony Bennett in 1957, Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley for 1958 Miles and Somethin' Else, Dexter Gordon in 1962, The Manhattan Transfer in 1976, the German disco group Boney M in 1977, Donald Byrd on the Love Byrd album in 1981, Elvis Costello live on the remastered Rhino Entertainment CD of his 1981 record Trust. Harvey Fierstein performs a memorable (if interrupted) version in the movie version of his play Torch Song Trilogy. Simply Red led by Mick Hucknall sang this song at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1992. Harry Connick, Jr. covered it in 1999 on his album Come by Me. Amanda Lear recorded a version in 2006.
Other vocal versions include Mel Torme's, Dinah Washington's, Diane Schuur's, Dianne Reeves', and Fine Young Cannibals'. The song has become a jazz standard, and is often performed in solely instrumentalist versions. Notable among these is the Arthur Lyman version, which revived the song as a single record in 1963."

[KT2000]

18. synthesizer for percussion

drives me nuts. It has really has ruined a lot of music.

[kentauros]

24. I guess you're not a fan of Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk - Computerlove

[KT2000]

37. Eeek!! n/t

[kentauros]

39. Yeah, they're a German band

that's only been in existence since 1970, so they also qualify as a "70s band"

[7wo7rees]

20. Their time was then, and thank God for it.

You would like this: http://www.keom.fm/index.html
All Seventies, no commercials.

[Odin2005]

21. It's the rise of electronic music.

Used to be that all music was done with actual instruments, not anymore.

[kentauros]

23. so much for the invention of the theremin

[TexasTowelie]

29. Have you heard of the "Octopus Project" from Austin?

They have been around for more than a decade and Yvonne is a goddess on the theremin. Try "Music is Happiness" for a start.

[kentauros]

42. I have now!

And I liked what I heard

I'll have to ask my sister if she's ever seen them. I know she's seen The Shoulders. I never got to see them, but loved their CD

[TexasTowelie]

45. I just saw your profile.

I heard that several of their videos were shot in Houston. The song "Wet Gold" was shot at Galveston Bay. Check out the "Bright Shinies" for more theremin.

I'm always glad to spread the word about great musicians. I saw them at the Clusterfest at Southwestern University back in April and they put on a great high-energy show. Some of the other acts were Matt & Kim, The Black and White Years and the Bright Light Social Hour (BLSH).

BLSH includes two SU alums (the guitar and bass players in the video "Back & Forth&quot and have won several awards at SWSW. I was extremely lucky on my birthday this year when they played on a Wednesday night in Dallas. Check out the video at

and spread the word. Their CD also has a lot of great 70's retro sounds.

[kentauros]

46. The video is pretty funny (and fun!)

although I'm not so enamored of the 70s sound or elements. Might appeal more to the OP. I have to wonder if they've gotten any airplay on soma-fm.com They'd fit in well on their Indie Pop Rocks! channel.

I have friends in Houston (many I knew in high school) that have a great folk and rock band. I don't know if they're producing anything these days, but they were once known as the Flying Fish Sailors. Greg Hinkle is their fiddler and song-writer and he's written some great stuff! (http://www.flyingfishsailors.com/)

Loch Ness Monster
http://www.flyingfishsailors.com/media/lochness.mp3

[kentauros]

22. What genre for "popular" music do you mean?

Here's some rock-polka that fits your needs:

Polkaholix - Polka Kebab (2007)

&feature=related


Also modern Middle Eastern:
Niyaz - Ishq (Love and the Veil) 2008

Since you listen to di.fm, give somafm.com a try if you haven't already. They have channels for recent rock and pop, and none of the crap played on commercial stations. In fact, no one in their right mind should listen to commercial stations on purpose

[unionworks]

26. Joni Mitchell

Playing mountain dulcimer, singing "California".

[AllenVanAllen]

27. Modern music has all the elements you mentioned.

You just have to look beyond the radio dial to find the good creative stuff.


This 2011 released tune has some great musical elements imo.

[Orrex]

30. If we have the 70s to blame for the horn section on No Jacket Required, then I say good riddance!

As dreadful an album as was ever produced, and the presence of an overbearing horn section doesn't help it any.

Curse you, Phil Collins. Curse you!

[unionworks]

31. Phil Collins

Is my concept of what I will be forced to listen to in hell

[mwb970]

32. I miss the vocal harmonies in live music.

When I ran sound at a coffeehouse last summer I saw a LOT of local bands (local to Columbus, Ohio, that is). Some were good, some were bad. But what I noticed was that NONE of them had bothered to work out any kind of vocal arrangement for any of their songs, originals or covers. NONE of them. There were no "backup vocals". If two people sang at the same time, it was in unison, never harmony.

Gee, the band I'M in uses intricate harmonies and vocal arrangements in every song. We have whole rehearsals dedicated to just the vocals. I guess we're weird, or out of step.

[Burma Jones]

34. This is a problem all over......Wife and I took the kids to see Hairspray last week

At the Signature Theatre here in the DC area (good show, good theatre company). The Orchestra consisted of Guitar, Bass, Drums and Synthesizer. The Synth player also played Sax. Many Musicals have very reduced orchestras which use recordings, synthesizers or just plain less instrumentation. No strings, no brass, one occasional sax........It's damned hard for a musician to make a living. Most of the professional musicians I know teach in the public schools - for now........

[dawg]

40. Arcade Fire might be a good modern band for you.

Also the Decemberists (except maybe for their most recent album).

[Tikki]

41. And the '70's ended mighty fine...

Tikki

[Dr. Strange]

52. Elbow

[LanternWaste]

53. Chicago Transit Authority...

Chicago Transit Authority...

Those first three albums of theirs were filled with some serious(!) horn arrangements.

(I make no excuse why I don't like the more modern, post-1982 crap that Madison Avenue has been supplying us with. I simply don't like it)

[Lionel Mandrake]

54. Here's one from the 60's

Sorry, there are no oboes, violins, or harpsichords on this track. But there is a great trumpet player, who died in 2008.



The pianist and bandleader is still with us.

[nolabear]

55. Try a little Lyle Lovett.

[Quartermass]

56. I'll listen to all kinds of music.

But my favorite era of music will always be the 80s. You just can't beat the artists like Phill Collins, and others like him.